Method of distilling oil



Nov. 3', 1925. 1,559,701

L. E. HIRT METHOD OF DISTILLING OIL Filed March 2, 1920 oF/Lm/rf FozvA/oes oF TM INLET' annunci/,S

Patented Nov.' 3, 1925.

LEON E. HIRT, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

METHOD OF DI Application led March 2,

To all 'w/om it may concern.'

Be it known that I, LEON E. Him?, a citizen ot the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State oitCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Method of Distilling Oil, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description, referencebeing had t'o the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a preferred form of oil stilladapted for carrying out my invention.

Figure 2 is .a top pl-an view of the same, and

Figure 3 is a detail view on a larger scale, partly in side elevationand partly in vertical section, of one oi the still tubes or pipes.

In carrying out my improvedfmethod I employ a still having means wherebythe oil to be distilled is caused to liow in thin films in contact withthe vapors of steam as well as the heavier vapors of distillation in amanner to give very intimate `contact between the oil films and theheat-carrying agencies', so that. a complete distillation of thefractions, as may be desired, will take place, and wherein thetemperature conditions can be readily and accurately controlled.

In the drawings the numeral 2 designates the body of the. still which`is shown as being ot cylindrical form with a removable cover portion 3having an otltake pipe 4 for the vapors of distillation and alsoprovided with a plurality in the present instance four) of oildistributing land inlet pipes 5. The upper portion of the stillcomprises an o-il receiving and istributinggv chamber into which thefeed pipes -discharg'e and also through which the vapors of distillationflow to the' oi'take pipe 4. 6 designate a plurality of Vertical pipesor tubes which occupy the central portion of the still. their ends beingsecured in the upper and lower headers 7. These pipes are suitablyspaced from each other in a\ mannerto provide for a free circulationaround them of a suitable heating medium which may either be steam orexhaust gases from an internal combustion engine. The steam, which maybe either live steam orexhaust steam, may be introduced through the pipe8.. IfA exhaust gases are used. they` `may be introduced through theconnection 9.' 10 designates an outlet connection for the exhaustgases-'and STILLING OIL.

1920. Serial N'o. 362,678.

11 a suitable outlet for the steam where that is used as the heatingmedium. 12 designates a manhole opening into the upper chamber of thestill, 13 is a gauge-glass -which indicates the level of the oil in thelower chamber 14 belowI the bottom header,

and 15 designate oil outlets. 16 is an inlet or introducing steam intothis lower cham- I preferably place in the upper chamber ot the stillbroken tile, pieces ot scrap iron, or other material, such as indicatedat 17, which will act to further distribute the oil introduced by thedistributing pipes 5. Through these several pipes and the provision otthis loose block material, the oil may be very thoroughly distributed tothe di lierent tubes 6 at a temperature at or near the vaporizationpoint of the desired product. I have, however. obtained verysatisfactory results by introducing the oil cold into the pipes 6. Insuch cases, the capacity is much reduced since these pipes have to heatthe oil as well as distill it.

In each of the tubes 6 I place a suitable arrangement of bafllescalculated to form means for causing the oil to flow therethrough in a'thin film. Such baffles may be ot various forms such as loose brokenmaterial, wire screening, etc. In Figure 8 I have shown a tube in whichthese balies are formed by suitably bent strips or ribbons 18.

'The operation will be readily understood.

The oil discharged into the upper chamber of the still is distributedamong the various tubes 6 and flows down the interior of these tubesover the baHies which also act to slow up this passage and cause it tobe distilled while flowing therethrough. The oil films are, during theirpassage through these tubes, brought into intimate contact with thevapors of steam arising from the lower chamberias well as the heavieryvapors of distillation coming` from the lower portion of the still. Inthis manner a very complete distillation of fractions takes place. Thetemperature surrounding the pipes or tubes '6 can be maintained at thedesired degree, thereby controlling the flashing point of the oil aswell as furnishing additional heat to the descending oil passing throughthe tubes. If steam is used,any desired degree of pres sure; may bemaintained around the tubes. The lengthl of Althe tubes will depend uponythe nature of 'the oil to be treated, the amount of fractionsfto betaken from the.

la'tion rising through the tubes. constitutes ai gaseous medium servingto mechanically re move vaporized constituents of the oil and preventsuch vaporized constituents from re condensing in the' tubes. 'v

As above indicated, instead of using steam anound they tubes, l mayutilizeexhaust gases from a as engine or from a furnace, or any otherexghaust gases which may be available provided their temperature isapproximately constant.

I preferably maintain an approximately constant level of liquid in thebottom of the still so that the expansivelratio of the steam introducedinto this lower chamber is always substantially the saine. If the volumeofthis space' is varied to any great extent, the steam naturally variesaccordingly in its expansive temperature and pressure.

l By reason ofthe fact that the oil is treated inthe form of very thinfilms which pass over surfaces heated to about the fractionation pointof 'the products desired, very effective fractionation results. l haveused the still very effectively in the gasolene absorption method. .l

I claim: i 1. The method of distilling oil, comprising producing a flowof the oil' in. thin films through a series of tubes in which the dis-`my hand.

tillation takes`v place and passing a gaseous medium other than thehydrocarbon being distilled through the tubes to mechanically .removevaporized constituents of the oil,

through a series of tubes in which the disp tlllation takes place andpassing a heated gaseous medium otherthan the hydrocarbon beingdistilled through the tubes to mechanically remove vapori'zedconstituents of .the-

oil, substantially as described. 4. The' method ot distilling oil,comprising producing a flow of the oil in thin films through a series oftubes and passing steam through the tubes in a direction counter to theldirection of iow of the` oil to mechanically remove vaporize'dconstituents of the oil, substantially as described.

5. The method of distilling oil, comprising producing a flow of the oilthrough a series of heated tubes in which the 'distillationtakes place,yand passing a gaseous medium other than the hydrocarbon being distilledthrough the tubes tol mechanically r'e move'vaporized constituents ofthe'oil, sub'- stantlally as described.

In testimonywhereof, have hereuntogset LEONE. Hm'r.

